Hikigaya Hachiman is still in the dark

"Won't this be completely ineffective?" I bent down, lifted Liumei's hair with my hand, and placed my hand on her forehead. After a while, I placed my hand on my own forehead to confirm Liumei's temperature.

It looks like the temperature has indeed dropped a lot, so ice packs shouldn't be needed.

"That's about it. You shouldn't need an ice pack. Just rest well."

"Um, um..." Liu Mei agreed obediently and retreated into her bed. Why does this reaction look so much like Komachi when she's shy? Sure enough, the younger sister is the tallest!

Next, now that I have made such a promise, I must make perfect food no matter how difficult it is!

Just keep working hard, and then...

"Sorry." I looked at Liumei while holding the porridge I cooked, and said apologetically.

Because I hadn't cooked for a long time, I didn't cut the meat into small pieces, I didn't control the heat well, and I even accidentally burned part of it. No matter how you look at it, this is a failure, the kind of failure that you would never want to try again after seeing it once.

It seems that I haven't cooked for a long time. I can't even make the most basic things. When I was in college and rented an apartment by myself, I could barely make decent and tasty dishes. But now, I can't even make the most basic lean meat porridge?

"It's still too much of a stretch. I'd better call..." I put the porridge on the table and prepared to call to order some takeout. I really couldn't bear to let the sick Chinese student eat such food.

"It's okay, Hachiman. I want to give it a try."

"Oh, but..." Although Liu Mei said that she wanted to try it, it was entirely possible that this was just a polite statement.

"No matter what, you have to eat something made by others."

Rumi's words left me speechless. When she was in high school, Yuigahama's first commission to the service club was to make a dish. At that time, Yuigahama's cooking had not yet grown to the level it is now, and it was still at the initial stage of murder weapon. Therefore, Yuigahama has always worked hard. At that time, I did say that taste is not the most important thing. As long as the mood of the person who cooks the dish can be well conveyed, then this dish is a successful dish.

Then, as the price for showing off, I got a piece of cookie that was baked completely awfully. At that time, I really didn't expect that the person Yuigahama wanted to thank was me.

Is this what I deserve? However, the cookies from that time are still fresh in my memory. If I make up my mind, maybe I can try something like this?

"Okay, but don't force yourself. It doesn't matter if you can't eat it." Although I was still very worried about Liumei, if Liumei insisted, I had to serve it to her. I reminded Liumei that if it tasted bad, she didn't have to eat it. There was no need to force herself.

"Yeah." She responded softly and Liu Mei reached out to take the bowl I handed over.

"Let me do it." Seeing that Liu Mei's hands were stretched out weakly, it would cause a lot of trouble if she couldn't catch it steadily, so I decided to feed Liu Mei.

"Yeah." Liu Mei's face turned red like the sunset, but she still allowed my behavior.

I carefully scooped up some porridge with a spoon. Because I was afraid that the porridge was too hot, I blew on it before handing it to Liumei's mouth. Liumei opened her mouth and started eating with very small movements.

"How, how is it?" I looked at Liumei nervously. Although I had no expectations for my own cooking, I still hoped that Liumei would think the porridge I cooked was delicious.

"It's not bad, but it's not delicious either..."

"In that case, wouldn't it be better to order takeout?" I took out my cell phone and prepared to make a call.

"Eh?" Liumei gently pulled my hand that was about to take out my phone, and she looked at me seriously.

"No, thanks. I want to finish my meal."

"No, is that okay?"

"It's okay, it's not that bad, and, and it's made by Hachiman..." When she said the latter part, Liumei's voice gradually became lower, but I could still hear her murmurs clearly.

Since I made it, do I have to finish it?

Thinking of this, my face turned red involuntarily... I always felt shy. It turns out that helping others cook is such a hard and shy experience.

"Okay, okay." Because of shyness, I became very nervous and even my words became unclear.

"Then, I'll leave it to you, Hachiman." Rumi said this and opened her little mouth.

"Yeah." After answering, I continued to feed Liumei.

After Rumei finished eating, a long time had passed. I looked at my watch and realized that if I didn’t go home, Yukinoshita and Yuigahama would probably complain to me again.

But I couldn't leave Rumi behind and go back alone. If I really couldn't make it in time, I would call Yuigahama and the others to explain the situation. Thinking of this, I got up and took the dishes back to the kitchen, where there were still some dishes that hadn't been cleaned up.

A clean environment is also very important for patients!

I rolled up my sleeves and started washing the dishes.

My dishwashing skills did not become rusty with the passage of time. After all, this is not a job that requires any technical skills... After washing the dishes, I came to the living room again and sat next to Liumei.

Next, the most important purpose of my visit this time is that I must make Liumei explain the truth of the matter to me.

Chapter 179 Quietly, Tsurumi Rumi tells everything

"Have you rested?"

"Well, I feel much more comfortable than before."

Liumei’s answer made me feel relieved. After all, when I first arrived, Liumei looked very uncomfortable and weak.

"So, can you seriously tell me about the recent events?"

Hearing my question, Liu Mei's body paused for a moment, then she looked at me with a wry smile: "Do you really have to ask these questions?"

"Of course. No matter what, this matter is very concerning, right?"

Two people who were originally very close suddenly stopped contacting each other unilaterally, and when they wanted to contact each other afterwards, they were unilaterally avoided. No matter how you look at it, it is impossible to say that you don't care about such a thing.

"Tell me what kind of suffering you have encountered, and why you want to avoid me..."

"Do you really want to know?"

"Isn't this natural? And you just..." At this point, I remembered Liu Mei's face, who was crying and asking me to save her just now: "Didn't you tell me to save you?"

"Yeah, that's true. I'm ready too." Liu Mei laughed, but her voice lacked the warmth that a smile should have.

“To put it simply, it’s just an upgraded version of the exclusion I experienced in elementary school,” Liu Mei said easily.

In elementary school? When I first met Liu Mei at Linjian School, it was true that Liu Mei was excluded by several other students there. That phenomenon existed in elementary school. But similarly, the exclusion at that time was much simpler. Just unilaterally ignoring was enough.

As people grow up, the means of exclusion will become more diverse, such as spreading rumors behind your back, messing with your things, etc. As bad people grow older, they will have more and more ways to do bad things, but in contrast, good people can only do such things even when they grow up.

It's a funny and cruel reality, but there's nothing we can do about it. In novels, villains use all kinds of schemes and tricks to harm others, while the kind protagonist can only talk nonsense and move forward with a sword.

"So what happened this time? Do you know the reason?"

"As for what happened, it was probably something like school bullying. As for the reason, I don't know, but it's probably because of Niwa Aoi."

"Is that really the case?" I had heard Orikusa roughly talk about the cause and content of the incident before, so when I heard Rumi say this, I was not very surprised. I just nodded slightly.

My reaction, which seemed to indicate that I had known this for a long time, instead attracted Liu Mei's puzzled gaze, and she stared at me straight.

"Hachiman, you seem to have known this for a long time."

"Of course. Don't look at me like this, but I am still a very careful person."

"Isn't this just like a stalker? He knows everything about the people around me without me knowing..."

"No, this is a legitimate investigation."

"Forget it..." Liu Mei did not continue to argue with me, and continued: "Although I don't know the reason why those two people excluded me, I can roughly guess that it was because of Niwa Feng. A woman's jealousy can be very dangerous."

"For you to say that..." It's like a man telling a woman who has been heartbroken that all men are bad. It always makes people feel weird.

"That's how it was. I originally just wanted to spend my high school years quietly, but somehow I found myself on the opposite side of all the girls in the college." Liu Mei's voice was very calm, and it was impossible to tell if there was any other emotion mixed in it.

But studying in the United States should be very irritating. I originally wanted to spend a period of time quietly, but because of someone, I was involved in something strange, and then, without knowing it, the trouble I got into became bigger and bigger. In such a situation, there should be no one who would not be angry.

"Then why are you hated? Is it because you confessed to Niwa?"

Usually it's like this: a girl confesses to a popular boy and gets rejected, and then the other girls will say she's overestimating herself or something...

"No, Mr. Hikigaya, please don't make those non-existent speculations." Rumi refuted me fiercely. She seemed very angry? Why was she so angry? Even if it wasn't the case, she shouldn't be so angry. I just expressed my opinion normally...

"I said I want to live a normal life, right? In that case, of course I want to stay away from Niwa. How can I confess to Niwa? If I get involved with the most popular person in the school, no matter how you look at it, I won't be able to spend my high school years in peace."

"That's true." I nodded and agreed with Liu Mei's statement: "But didn't you join the student union?"

According to Liu Mei, joining the student union is not part of the ordinary peaceful high school life. The student union is also a very important group in the school, and it is understandable that the people in it are paid attention to. If Liu Mei really thinks so, he should not join the student union.

"I was forced to join the student union, and I was also forced to be the vice-class monitor."

"Wait, forced." I couldn't believe my ears and looked at Liu Mei in disbelief: "Can such a thing be forced? I remember that all this seemed to be based on popularity votes, right?"

Although I don't quite understand how Seaside High School selects student leaders, it should be the same as Sobu High School, through popularity voting.

"That's right." Liu Mei sighed, "But Niwa Feng would canvass for me every time there was a vote, and the rest of the people were probably influenced by Niwa Feng and would vote for me. As a result, when I was still confused, I somehow entered the student union."

“Did you submit the application yourself?”

"No, it was Niwa Fu who made the decision."

"If that's the case, then that person's character is really bad." The warm smile on Niwa's face when they met appeared in my mind. Thinking about it now, I feel really sick. He is a complete hypocrite.

"If you had gathered intelligence, you would probably know Niwa Aoi's attitude towards other girls, right? And how he handles other interpersonal relationships."

"Yes, I do understand." I nodded.

"Niwa Aoi was always very caring towards me, and before I knew it, rumors started to spread around the school, coupled with my dislike for Niwa Aoi. By the time I came to my senses, I had already stood against all the female students in the school. Moreover, the other two members of the student council also happened to like Niwa Aoi, so I was isolated."

"No, are you okay?" When I heard this, I looked at Liu Mei sadly. Although Liu Mei had been trying to speak these things in a relaxed manner, I could clearly feel the sadness behind her. How does it feel to be isolated by almost everyone in the school? I had experienced this in high school...

"So, I was threatened. During the joint activities, two other classmates noticed that you, Hachiman, and I had a good relationship, and that we always went back together. So they often ran to where we kept our things early and secretly took away my scarf, hat, cotton socks, etc.... Maybe they thought I was deliberately seducing Mr. Kimiya."

Yes, is that so?

Not long ago, I had a quarrel with Liu Mei because she wore less clothes in the winter. At that time, I thought that Liu Mei wore less clothes in the winter just because she loved beauty. But the reason behind it was not what I thought, and what Liu Mei had to endure was not what I thought before.

The huge self-blame made me feel suffocated, and the scene of the quarrel with Liumei that day kept appearing in my mind.

"Hachiman, you don't have to blame yourself." As if she noticed my annoyance, Liumei gently grabbed my hand. I felt the warmth in her hand, but I couldn't be happy at all.

"I'm sorry, if I could only..."

"Don't blame yourself, Hachiman. This is not Hachiman's fault. I was not angry at that time because I knew what Hachiman meant. Hachiman said that to me because he was worried. I know what Hachiman meant, so I am very happy because there are still people in this world who really care about me." Liumei comforted me with her usual smile.

This kind of comfort made me feel even worse. Liu Mei could understand me, but why couldn’t I understand Liu Mei earlier?

"But after that incident, I felt that I couldn't be with Hachiman anymore. Hachiman is so smart. If I continue to stay with Hachiman, you will definitely understand the cause of the whole thing. Then, you will once again take on the role of the villain, just like in elementary school, and bear all the blame alone, right?"

The words about staying in the US left me speechless. Indeed, even if I dislike such behavior now, if I knew about staying in the US, I would probably lose my rationality, and it would not be surprising if I did anything like that...

"So, even though I don't want to, I still have to keep my distance from Hachiman. Also, if something bad about Hachiman gets out because of something like this, I'll be very sad. So, I have no choice but to keep my distance from Hachiman." Liumei still pretended to be very relaxed, but I noticed that there were tears in the corners of her eyes that could flow out at any time.

Why, why is it like this? I was the one who didn't notice.

"Hachiman, are you angry? Because I deliberately distanced myself from you?" Liu Mei looked at me worriedly: "The reason why I went back with Niwa Feng that day was because I thought Hachiman would definitely be waiting for me at the school gate. I had no choice but to..."

That day? I thought that was the day when Rumi and Niwa confirmed their relationship. Was that the case? Was Rumi doing that out of consideration for me?

Compared to this, what I thought before was so ridiculous and childish...

I hate myself for being like that!

Why didn’t I realize my original intention of staying in the United States?

Chapter 180: Special, Hikigaya Hachiman and Tsurumi Rumi only have today

Why didn’t I realize my original intention of studying in the United States?

I kept asking myself in my heart, if I had noticed it earlier, then I could have helped the students studying in the United States earlier, and maybe they would have suffered less...

"It's okay, Hachiman. People only believe in what they see. I'm wrong. I shouldn't have lied to Hachiman. I made Hachiman so worried because of my little selfishness. I also made Hachiman find where I live. So, I'm very grateful to Hachiman. I'm sorry for lying to you before."

Liumei's gentle words made me even more ashamed. Although it was true as Liumei said that she had hidden something from me, if it came down to it, it was because I did not trust Liumei and made my own speculations based on the trivial things I knew.

"That's right, but I..." I didn't dare look at Liu Mei because I blamed myself: "But I didn't believe you either, and I didn't ask you carefully before and blamed you. No matter what, I was wrong."

"Yeah, that's right." Liu Mei's voice of agreement made me feel even more uncomfortable: "When you scolded me before, Hachiman, I was so wronged that I almost cried. What I was thinking at the time was what this meant? Why would this person blame me? I have suffered so much, why am I being scolded here? But..." Liu Mei changed the subject. At this time, she gently leaned on my shoulder and entrusted her weight to my shoulder: "So, if you can redouble your efforts and save me, I will forgive you. In addition, you must use a way that I can accept and that will make you happy."

Liu Mei's voice was gentle, floating in my ears like a spring breeze.

That's right, Liu Mei was still thinking about me until the very end, and he tried hard to ensure that I would not affect his life.

She is so gentle. If she were Rumi, wouldn't she have grown to a level that I am amazed at? If it weren't for Niwa's influence, Rumi would have definitely found one or two good friends, and then had her own small circle, and could have lived the normal life of a girls' high school that I envied.

No matter what, I think this way. At least, Liumei is growing up, just like me...

This is how the world is. When you grow up, others are also growing up. So sometimes, I feel that this world is not bad. At least this world is the same to everyone, equally gentle and cruel.

In this case, as the grown-up Hachiman Hikigaya, I am no longer the childish me in high school who only cared about getting hurt, nor am I the Hikigaya Hachiman who shrank back and dared not move forward in college. These are all I can say.

"Of course, of course!"

I quietly agreed to stay in the United States.

"I can definitely stay in the United States." I repeated it as if to emphasize.

"What's that called? Like a fool."